The ‘Chita Andolan’ or pyre protest has flared up once again in Madhya Pradesh as displaced communities spearheaded by tribal women ramp up their resistance against the massive Ken Betwa Link Project and adjacent irrigation works. The demonstration returned to the banks of the Barana River near Kupi village in Panna district under an uncompromising rallying cry demanding either immediate justice or the right to die.
This intense escalation follows a brief suspension of the movement in April, which was paused only after local administrative authorities provided explicit assurances of fair relief. According to protest leaders Divya Ahirwar and Lakshmi Adivasi, none of those administrative promises were honored.
Instead, they report that local authorities have actively used intimidation tactics to suppress dissent, including cutting off electricity, filing false legal cases, and even demolishing local schools. Most critically, families are being forced to live completely out in the open during the monsoon season due to sudden, unannounced home demolitions.
Social activist and movement leader Amit Bhatnagar has raised sharp warnings over the vast scale of this dislocation, pointing out that up to 50,000 people face the loss of their ancestral lands, water resources, and distinct cultural heritage. The environmental footprint is equally staggering, with the project threatening the destruction of an estimated 4.6 million trees alongside irreversible ecological damage to the Panna Tiger Reserve and the Ken River basin.
Combined with resistance against concurrent initiatives like the Majhgaon Medium Project, Runj, and Naigua irrigation schemes, local villagers from areas like Kudan and Palkonha maintain that they have received neither their full rehabilitation packages nor adequate notice to relocate, leaving them with no choice but to resume their desperate fight for survival.